


Everything Is Fine, How Are You?

by Crumbles_Of_Reality



Series: Everything Is Fine [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Father son relationship, Goodbyes, Mentions of Steve Rogers/ Tony Stark - Freeform, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sad, Sad Ending, Sad Tony, Sadness, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony just wants the best for his son, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 12:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12169074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crumbles_Of_Reality/pseuds/Crumbles_Of_Reality
Summary: Tony thinks for a second as the faceplate regulates his breathing. A caller I.D. pops up on his viewer, and he tells J.A.R.V.I.S. to initiate the call. The dial tone rings through his ears for one second.... two seconds..."Mr. Stark?"





	Everything Is Fine, How Are You?

The faceplate slid down, regulating breathing and opening a caller I.D. page. Tony thought for a moment and hit the dial button. For a second all he could hear from his helmet was the crackling ring tone, and dread filled through his body. _If Peter didn’t answer… If he never got to…_ But finally the call opened and Peter’s face filled his view. Immediately Tony’s mind calmed down, and he felt waves of relief that the boy was unharmed.

“Hey Peter! How’re ya doin, bud?” He grins into the screen, and Peter’s worried face looks back at him.

“Mr. Stark? Is everything all right, do I need to help out? What’s happening? Are you in trouble, is there a villain attacking the ci-”

“Woah there! Calm down, kiddo. I’m just on patrol and feeling lonely, nothing more. I wanted to chat. That cool with you?” Tony feels his heart pounding in his ears, and knows that there’s probably a lack of blood in his brain. He sighs, and the sound rattles through him like little bits of metal in a ribcage. Ha, ironic.

“Yeah, yeah Mr. Stark! That’s awesome! What do you wanna talk about? Do you know Ned got this awesome lego set, it’s incredible, he built it all in one day too- super impressive!” Peter beams at him through his phone, then blushes in embarrassment. “You probably don’t wanna hear about a dumb lego set, though. How is your latest work going? Top secret, I hope? Got any secrets I can keep?” Peter is talking too fast, but that’s how he always speaks. It’s rushed and giddy with excitement because he’s talking to his idol, who has somehow become his fatherly figure.

 Tony grimaces and tries to turn it into a grin, because now he’s off topic and he might not remember what to say- but Peter is ecstatic, so it doesn’t really matter anyway, does it? “Peter, you know… you know you’re like a son to me, right? And that I’d do anything for you?” Tony closes his eyes and waits for a reply, praying that there’s not a look of disgust on the spiderboy’s face.

“Mr. Stark? Are you…. Are you sure everything is okay?” Tony opens his eyes and sees the pixelated frown that the kid wears and chuckles.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just…. Got a little emotional, you know? Because what if one of us gets hurt in battle and we don’t have time to say it to eachother? You- you’re like my son, and I know I mask it well but I do care about you, Peter. If anything,” Tony tries to discreetly catch his breath, fighting the feeling of suffocation in his lungs, “If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”

Peter is silent on the other end of the line, his face soft and happy. The worry and excitement has left his eyes, and instead there’s just the warmth of an admiring son there. Tony waits to see if he would reply, and then continues after he hears nothing.

“You remind me so much of myself when I was your age, y’know. And….. and you’re so smart. Some day, Peter, you will do such big things. And if, god forbid, I’m not there to see them, I’ll be cheering you on from whatever hell I belong to.”

There’s definitely tears in both their eyes now, and Tony is sniffling pathetically. He ignores the throbbing in his side and tries to continue, but Peter is distracted by something and then he turns back to Tony with a fury in his eyes that the man has only ever seen elsewhere in the face of Steve when he scolded Tony for flying into a wormhole. 

“You said you were fine-”

“I _am_ fine, what just happened, I was-”

“Tony, where are you? There’s a… a battle going on downtown. I just finished my homework, can I help out?” Peter’s eyes are full of hope and trust, and it breaks Tony’s heart. He pretends to ponder the question for a bit, then replies.

“Sorry, kiddo… I can’t let you do that, the villains minion’s her- there seem pretty powerful, and I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Tony begins, and before he can continue Peter objects.

“Oh come on- You didn’t hesitate letting me travel to Germany to fight _Captain America_. Surely these guys can’t be as bad?” Peter is jesting, now, and Tony smiles half-heartedly. He coughs and tastes iron, swallowing down the fear in his throat and ignoring the black spots swimming in and out of his vision.

“They are, they are definitely worse. Peter, listen to me: you _cannot_ come to this fight. Please, promise me you won’t,” Tony breathes, his lungs aching for air even as he finishes the short sequence of words, and he knows that Peter is suspicious.

Godbless the child, he doesn’t question him, and instead Peter nods slowly and resolutely. “Is that all, Mr. Stark? I was thinking about going over to Ned’s house to check out the Death Star, it’s really cool,” Peter babbles on, and Tony can’t even bring himself to feel guilty when his ears block out the excess noise. He revels in the sound of his “son’s” voice, and when he finally zones back into reality, Peter is smiling and waiting for a reply.

“What? Oh yes, yes. Enjoy, kiddo,” he grins back at Peter, genuine and not without a little sadness. Peter moves to hang up, but Tony urges for one last sentence, and so he waits.

"I love you, Peter." 

Tony hangs up the call and smiles to himself, pulling up his faceplate so he can see better. He’s lying in the rubble of a building, hidden halfway in an alley and well out of sight from the opponents of the Avengers.

His hand brushes against his side, and Tony looks down to see the scarlet of blood flayed across his fingers. It spreads across the debris, his abdomen creating small rivers of crimson-compact dust. It’s too late, and Tony is glad that he got to say goodbye to his protege- it might be stupid, but to him Peter was everything good in the world pressed into one goofy teenager.

Lights flash white, and Tony has a feeling that it’s just his brain telling him it’s time to go. His comms are finally crackling back in, unmuted and free to play all the yelling and screaming of his team members.

Half of them haven’t noticed he’s gone, and most are nowhere near his block anyway. Natasha screams for Clint to watch out; Steve mutters quietly for backup from Tony and starts to panic when he gets no reply.

It's a beautiful day. Tony hadn't really appreciated it to it's full extent earlier- the sky is a luminescent blue, the clouds are those picture-perfect cumulus ones that usually only appear out in the country where pollution is synonym with developed buildings. He chuckles to himself at the corny joke, mind drifting too quickly from one topic to the next. The day would make for a really nice picnic. With…. Peter, definitely. And… Steve? Yeah, Steve would be there, out of uniform. He’d wear a tight shirt and laugh that laugh where you know he’s really happy, the one that Tony loves. Peter would come straight from school, and forget about homework and stress and being a superhero for a couple hours. Tony could have both of them, and if they managed to get along it might be a picture perfect afternoon.

Tears flow freely down his face, and there’s not enough blood in him to take him to the place where he’s happy. Instead Tony, wearing ruptured armor painted red with more than pigment, closes his eyes. An unnatural breeze ruffles his hair, and the comm line goes quiet. The sound of a chopper fills his surroundings, and Tony wishes the world one last goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


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